The Telegraph was invented by Samuel Morse.
The Western Union Telegraph Co. controlled the telegraph.
Trained operators transmitted the messages sent into Morse
Code.
The telegraph was mostly used by shopkeepers and
reporters. It allowed orders and business to be conducted
over long distances.
In the 1860’s, the telegraph linked the United States and
Europe.
Alexander Graham Bell, born in 1847, was
the inventor of the telephone.
Bell was interested in the education of deaf
people, this lead to the invention of the
microscope, which today is called the
telephone.
The telephone was invented in the 1870’s with
help from inventor Elisha Gray. The telephone
is a wire-based electrical system.
The invention of the telephone lead to Bell’s
idea to improve the telegraph.
New ways of selling goods starting in 1863 when mail to
homes begun.
In the 1890’s, the U.S Post Office expanded into rural
areas. Merchants could now sell goods across the
country rather than just in their village.
The mailing system helped chain spores grow rapidly.
Companies started publishing catalogs that offered a wide
range of goods.
Rural families now had a wide assortment of goods not found
in country stores.
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was born in 1847. He was a great
American inventor and business man.
His inventions included the light bulb and the
phonograph.
Also, Edison helped improve and develop the motion
picture camera, the stock ticker and the typewriter.
Edison was made known for his work with electricity and
working with light bulbs.
Edison’s labs were located in Menlo Park and New Jersey.
Edison’s Famous statement was “ Genius is one percent
inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
The Assembly Line
Henry Ford pioneered a
new less expensive way to
manufacture cars, called
the Assembly Line.
An assembly line is a
manufacturing process.
The assembly line reduced
production costs allowing
cars to be made faster and
cheaper.
Henry Fords installed the
first conveyer belt-based
assembly line in his car
factory in Ford’s Highland
Park, Michigan plant,
around 1913-1914.
George Eastman
In 1888, George Eastman invented
dry, transparent and flexible,
photographic film ( or rolled
photograph film). He also invented
the Kodak cameras that could be
use the new film. George Eastman
was an avid photographer and
became the founder of the Eastman
Kodak company.
John Thurman started a horse drawn( door to door
service) vacuum system in St. Louis, similar to Booth’s.
His vacuuming services were priced at $4 per visit in
1903. He invented his own gasoline powered vacuum
cleaner in 1899. Some historians consider it the first
motorized vacuum cleaner. Thurman’s machine was
patented on October 3, 1899 ( patent #634,042).
Mining
The introduction of the steam engine greatly facilitated the removal of water and the
enabled shafts to be made deeper, enabling more coal to be extracted
Steam power
The development of the stationary steam engine was an essential early element of
the Industrial Revolution; however, for most of the period of the Industrial Revolution,
the majority of industries still relied on wind and water power as well as horse and
man-power for driving small machines.
Other changes made during this time period were the use of:
Chemicals, machine
tools, gas lighting
Canals, roads and
railways.
Industrial society was
very static and often
cruel to workers who
made low wages,
worked long hours,
and toiled in unsafe
working conditions.
Child labor was often
used as families
needed the income
and children worked
for little money and
could get into places
to small for adults.
George Westinghouse
Westinghouse was an
entrepreneur and a
famous engineer
responsible for a lot of
electrical inventions.
Westinghouse was an
engineer who invented
the railroad air brake
which made rail travel
safe for the first time.
Westinghouse was one
of Edison’s main rivals
in the American
Electrical System.
Henry Ford
Mass produced the
first mass production
automobile called the
Model T in 1908.
Almost a million were
sold that year.
Ford is credited with
inventing the assembly
line and mass
production which
made goods cheaper,
faster and affordable
for the average
American
Ford increased wages
for his workers and
shortened the work
week so they could
afford and use cars.